


I'm Feeling Neglected

by HiGuysHey



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Realism, Byleth is a workaholic, Communication is important dammit, Dorothea and Byleth are engaged, Dorothea has issues, F/M, Love, Rated M for Language and mention of sex, Relationship Problems, Wholesome, mature themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiGuysHey/pseuds/HiGuysHey
Summary: Dorothea and Byleth are not happily engaged.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault & My Unit | Byleth, Dorothea/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	I'm Feeling Neglected

Byleth was not having a good day. He had stepped in a ditch filled with chamber pot refuse and only had thirty minutes between meetings to get cleaned up and change shoes. What’s more, Dorothea was in their room today. He pretended not to notice her presence when she silently watched him hop on one refuse covered foot to remove the other shoe without contaminating his hands. She shifted in her seat on the rocking chair loudly, as if she was daring him to look. “You seem to be in a hurry,” she snickered. Of course she enjoyed seeing his pain. Why was she acting so casually around him? Byleth wanted to wipe that smirk off of her face. “I saw you yesterday with a noble. Franz, wasn’t it? You seemed to be having fun.” Dorothea seemed unaffected, except for a quick hand clench. “Yes, is there something wrong with that? We never said our relationship was exclusive.” Byleth kept his voice even, unaffected, but he felt his eye twitch. “I thought it was implied when I asked you to _marry me_.” Dorothea’s eyes flashed and she forced a casual tone. “We aren’t even married yet. Men say a lot of things.” Byleth sighed. “Dorothea, I knew from the beginning that I was going to have to work on making you trust me, but I think it’s gone beyond that. You’re addicted to the attention.”

Her eyes flashed and her brows furrowed in anger. “How insightful of you- I do like attention. I just feel like I’m not getting that from you. You always have something that’s more important than me. War, being an Archbishop, attending social events- I can’t even nail down a date for our wedding for the next three years that you don’t already have some obligation on! Fault me if you want, but I want to be valued. I want to be protected. I want to be _looked_ at. It’s a rare moment when I feel like you’re actually _seeing_ me, and not just another obligation. We don’t even talk anymore, unless you’re scolding me for glancing at another man or fucking me. It seems like the only thing I’m good for is sex.”

Byleth gaped at her, the color draining from his normally composed face. A moment passed as his sharp green eyes evaluated her. “Well, if you feel like that, maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to get married.” Dorothea’s sardonic chuckle punched out of her. “It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay together in the first place. I’m a whore, isn’t that what you’re thinking? Don’t worry, I won’t ask for payment for the last two years. I’ll just pack a bag and _leave_. ” Her voice wobbled on the last word and she wrapped her shawl tighter around her narrow shoulders. Byleth had the sudden urge to rip the shawl off her. There were too many barriers between them.

His hand reached out to her of its own accord and he heard his own voice, filled with pain. “Don’t.” He grabbed onto the hem of her shawl. The gold tassels felt thick and heavy, almost oppressive. He gripped the tassels, hard. “Don’t leave, Dora. We can still talk; we can still work this out.” Panic was buzzing through him, drawing his muscles into taut strings, millimeters from snapping. His heart sped up to an almost indistinguishable hum, and the tips of his fingers felt as if they were being pricked by millions of tiny needles as the blood thrummed past his eardrums. Hyper-aware of her every movement, Byleth could only look at Dorothea, drinking in each detail of her appearance. Her perfect nose, the small freckle at the base of her collarbone, the natural upturn of the side of her mouth, the sparkle of her sad green eyes as she held back tears.

His hand stroked her cheek. Dorothea’s eyes softened at the nickname, and her grip on the shawl loosened. “I don’t think talking is going to help, By. You’ve never been a talker.” Byleth shook his head, frustrated. “But obviously, I need to talk more. Dora, what do I have to do to get you to believe that you are important to me?This whole time, I didn’t even know you were unhappy because of me. You don’t let me see when you’re hurting. I wish you could tell me where it hurts, just for a moment.” Dorothea shook her head sadly “I can’t. I’m not a talker, either,” her eyes glimmered with hope, “But, I can show you where it hurts.” She grasped Byleth’s free hand and moved it under the shawl and over her heart.

Byleth yanked her shawl off and cupped her face in his large hand. His green eyes shone with determination as he stroked her delicate cheek, searching her face. Something was off. She pressed her breast into his hand like she was goading him on, like she wanted a reason to feel like he was using her for sex. There was a lot to unpack, and sex was the worst idea at that time. He slid his hand from her chest up to her shoulder, and pulled her to him. “You are so precious to me, Dora,” he murmured into her hair. “You have no fucking idea how much, and it’s my fault.” He gently tilted her chin up to get a good look at her face. She had dropped the facade as her eyebrows drew together, her mouth tilted downward and tears streamed down her face. She looked so broken. Byleth felt his eyes welling up as he leaned down to kiss away her tears. “I promise I will never make you cry like this again.” This time, Dora openly sobbed against his chest. “How?”

Byleth gently guided her to their bed, pulling her down on top of his chest, carding his fingers through her hair. “Whenever you feel like I’ve been neglecting you, just tell me to cancel my whole day. I promise I will drop everything, unless it’s a battle or the entire fate of the kingdom rests on it. In that case, I’ll drop everything the next day.” She let out a wet chuckle. “Very pretty words, but how do I know you’ll follow through?” Byleth pressed a kiss to her lips. “I guess you’ll just have to try it out, then.” She giggled and cuddled into his chest, “Okay, cancel everything you have today. I’m feeling neglected.”

“Done.”

* * *

Five minutes before the meeting, an impatient knocking threatened the structural integrity of their bedroom door. Seteth’s clearly annoyed voice muffled through the door, “Your Holiness, you have a meeting with the council in five minutes.” Byleth disentangled himself from Dorothea’s sleeping body and answered the door, cracking it open enough for Seteth to see her unconscious form. “Seteth, I apologize, but I am unavailable for the rest of the day.” In response to Seteth’s spluttering, Byleth tilted his head back toward Dorothea. “We have already discussed my judgements earlier this morning and I am confident in your ability to carry out my duties for the day.” Seteth nodded his head slowly, “I suppose there isn’t anything immediately pressing you need to attend to. Be sure to prepare for the emissaries in the Audience Chamber tomorrow morning, your Holiness.” Byleth nodded his thanks and gently closed the door. When he turned back, Dorothea was smiling at him with an almost disbelieving look glazing over her eyes, “You kept your promise.”

Byleth clambered back onto the bed and nuzzled into her neck, planting a playful kiss on her shoulder. “Of course I did. You made me realize that I have to choose you every day.” It finally seemed to sink in, as her smile grew brighter than he had ever seen before. Dorothea pecked his lips and mischievously squeezed his rear. “Take off your clothes, we have a whole day to do whatever we want.”

**Author's Note:**

> (M)-Sorry if this isn't as funny or horny as the other ones. This was a little more drama than I intended. This was gonna be a porn with feelings situation, but I couldn't make the two Barbie dolls kiss until they resolved their issues. As with many fictional works my boyfriend and I write, this story includes practicing healthy communication skills in relationships, because healthy relationships are sexy, too, dammit. When I'm left to my own devices, I tend to focus on developing the relationship. Oh, well. This was written by me (M) and Beta-read by my boyfriend (I).
> 
> P.S. If you wanna read more, especially sex scenes, let us know in the comments.


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